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Season 6
=''The Jeffersons: Season 6= A total of 24 episodes of ''The Jeffersons aired on CBS-TV during Season 6, from Sepember 23, 1979 to the season's conclusion on April 13, 1980. Season summary Scheduling and ratings At the beginning of the summer of 1979, CBS moved The Jeffersons from Wednesdays at 8pm to Sundays at 930pm as part of its newly-assembled Sunday night lineup -- which consisted of 60 Minutes in the 7pm lead-off position followed by the All in the Family continuation series Archie Bunker's Place at 8pm, One Day at a Time at 830pm, Alice at 9pm and Trapper John, M.D. at 10pm. This lineup would remain intact for three seasons -- with the entire lineup ranking in the Nielsen Top 20 for each of those seasons. After two seasons ranked well out of the Top 30 (#56 for the 1977-1978 TV season and #49 for the 1978-1979 TV season), The Jeffersons shot up to #8 for the 1979-1980 TV season and remained a Top 20 show until its final season. Casting changes Mike Evans, who originated the role of Lionel on All in the Family and the first season of The Jeffersons, returned to the role for the first time since 1975. He had co-created Good Times -- which had just aired its final episode six weeks prior to the start of this season of The Jeffersons. His return to the series was in the season premiere episode titled "The Announcement" in which Lionel and Jenny tell the family that they're going to have a baby. Story notes In "The Expectant Father", Lionel seeks refuge from the pressures of pending fatherhood so George counsels him on the important things about fatherhood. In "The Shower", Lionel leaves Jessica's baby shower in order to go to work. George then goes to the office to talk to him about how quickly the time passes by and much of his daughter's childhood he'll miss by spending so much time at work as he had. And in "The Loan", the loan for Lionel and Jenny's new house falls through. Though Lionel wants to handle the situation himself, George, Louise, Helen and Tom each secretly go over to Lionel's bank in order to co-sign. In "The First Store" the story flashbacks to April 1968, when George was applying for a loan to open up his first dry cleaning store in Harlem. This event coincided with the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- news the Jeffersons found out about as George was showing Louise and Lionel the site of the first store that he had just put a down payment on by selling their car in anticipation of securing a loan. A militant teenaged Lionel was angry and ready to join the looting and rioting but George was torn between being angry and moving ahead to do better for himself and his family while Louise was just trying to keep peace between them. George was able to secure the loan, but because of the looting and rioting, the loan was contingent on moving the location of that first store out of Harlem. George refused, kicked the man out of their apartment and lost the loan. Still determined to open up that store, George, Louise and Lionel listen to King's final speech (which, within the context of the flashback, had been delivered the night before) playing on the radio. Series overview Season 6 (1979/80) *Sherman Hemsley as George Jefferson *Isabel Sanford as Louise Jefferson *Mike Evans as Lionel Jefferson *Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston *Franklin Cover as Tom Willis *Roxie Roker as Helen Willis *Berlinda Tolbert as Jenny Willis Jefferson *Paul Benedict as Harry Bentley *Ned Wertimer as Ralph the Doorman Category:Season episode guides Category:The Jeffersons episodes